Afghan Bomb Blast Kills Security Officer, Eight Civilians
A roadside bomb attack killed eight civilians in Helmand on Wednesday as U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was visiting troops in a military camp in the southern Afghan province.
"A roadside mine planted by the Taliban blasted in Marja district when a minivan touched it, triggering a big explosion. As a result eight civilians were killed," provincial spokesman Daud Ahmedi told Agence France Presse.
The blast happened about a 15-minute helicopter flight from Camp Bastion, where Panetta landed Wednesday for talks with local government officials before a planned meeting with President Hamid Karzai.
His trip comes at a fraught moment in the Afghan war after a shooting rampage by a US soldier killed 16 villagers in neighboring Kandahar province, raising fears of an anti-American backlash.
A motorcycle bomb blast in Kandahar city shortly before the Helmand attack killed at least one Afghan security officer and wounded two others.
On Tuesday, suspected Taliban insurgents opened fire on an Afghan government delegation attending a memorial service for the murdered civilians in Panjwai district in Kandahar province, where the shooting took place.
The hail of gunfire left one member of the Afghan security forces dead and one policeman wounded.
Source: Agence France Presse
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